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Sunday, November 23, 2014

The Spirit of Urban Sketching

This is from Gabi Campanario's blog--Gabi is sort of the founder of our Urban Sketching concept. I thought it was a good clarification, if such is needed.

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Thursday, March 14, 2013

The spirit of urban sketching

The way I see it, being an urban sketcher isn't merely about drawing
cities, big or small, urban or rural, with a pen or with your fingers on
an digital tablet. It's about drawing places that can be put on a map,
and everything that happens in those places. It's about showing the
world with drawings, taking people to locations they may never go
through artwork only you can create. You were there, you saw it, you
sketched it, you told us what happened with your hand drawn art,
sketched in the moment but perhaps touched up later because you ran out
of time or can't resist the urge to fix something up. What matters is
that you "draw what you witness," as my fellow sketchers in Indonesia like to say.

Those beautiful vases of flowers or the bowls of fruit on your kitchen
table are sure great subjects to draw, but do they tell me something
about a place I can put on a map? There are countless of beautiful
sketching subjects to be drawn from observation that don't quite fit the
spirit of urban sketching: an out-of-context portrait of my friend or
her cat or her baby or her baby's shoes, for example.

But there's no point in making lists to define what urban sketching is
or is not. You know what it is already, you've probably been an urban
sketcher for a long time!

2 comments:

Yes, I think Gabi clarifies it very well. Often people get so hung up in what is and what isn't and why not...granted, not everything is going to be reportage sketching, nor does it need to be, but it IS nice to tell us something about where you are.

Who we are and where we come from...

Urban Sketchers is a network of artists around the world who draw the cities where they live and travel to. Our mission is to "Show the World, One Drawing at a Time." Visit our main blog at urban sketchers dot org for more information.

Sketchers who live in the Midwest region of the United States share their drawings on this blog.

Our Manifesto

1. We draw on location, indoors or out, capturing what we see from direct observation.
2. Our drawings tell the story of our surroundings, the places we live and where we travel.
3. Our drawings are a record of time and place.
4. We are truthful to the scenes we witness.
5. We use any kind of media and cherish our individual styles.
6. We support each other and draw together.
7. We share our drawings online.
8. We show the world, one drawing at a time.